Something About Us
by vurginity
Summary: Jenna finally accepts that she's in love with Matty and expects everything perfect from then on out. After Matty and Jenna tell Jake the truth he drops his nice-guy-act and will do everything in his power to make their lives miserable.
1. I Need You More Than Anything In My Life

I missed last year. Last year at this time I was sitting around the television with my parents aching for the ball to drop so I could run back up to my room and sleep. Last year at this time life was drama-free and easy. But at this time, right now, I was faced with a decision that would most definitely shape the rest of my High School career. Matty or Jake. The phrase I kept repeating in my head regardless of how much it hurt to think about. Who should I start the year with?

My head screamed "Jake!", but my heart had set itself on Matty. Any hopeless romantic knew the answer was obvious, but what told you to get out of the road when a car was racing towards you? Your heat or your head? Your head guided you out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt. Your heat stayed silent, only doing it's job to pump blood through your veins and make decisions like this twice as hard.

I let my body fall onto the tattered, navy blue couch that sat in Matty's living room and set out a deep and audible sigh. The volume of the sigh didn't attract any attention, though, because the room I was in lacked any kind of civilization. Everyone was scattered around the house having a good time, while I was sitting here drowning in deep thought.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the pillow, trying to relax about the situation. But all my head kept picturing was Matty sitting in his garage alone. His head buried in his hands and only lifting it up to down another red cup. I could hear his amorous voice mumble to himself between sips. I had to open my eyes to rid of the vision. I just sat there frozen, my eyes staring at the blank wall in front of me but seeing so much more.

I could hear footsteps entering the door so I snapped my gaze and quickly stood up. "Here you are! I've been looking for you," Jake said relieved, "10 minutes until the new year, huh? Can you believe it?"

I turned to him and tried to smile at him, "Yeah..." My weak voice grew a backbone and I quickly corrected myself, "No." I couldn't believe I wasted a whole year doubting Matty and every other action he made. I couldn't believe I spent the last week or so thinking the decision I made was right.

Jake awkwardly continued on, "Yeah, me neither. Wanna go back to the party with me?"

I pressed my lips together; I had no idea what the correct way to reject that question was. "I need to use the bathroom."

I walked out of the room with what I thought was confidence, but what probably looked like suspicion. I pushed myself though the bathroom door and stared into the mirror. I began to try and fix myself up, but I almost instantly stopped and directly myself the the garage. I checked my watch before I opened the door, reading "11:04".

I took a breath before I cautiously turned the door knob and entered the room. Matty's face was hidden with a beer can, but the second he lowered it and turned to me his eyes grew. My lips curved into a smile as I took a seat next to him. I took the can out of his hands easily and added it to the collection at his feet, "I think you've had enough."

He smiled at me, "Jenna. Jenna, you came." His smile faded into a serious look as he took my hands in his, "I am so sorry for all the shit I put you through this year, but I swear you won't regret giving me another chance. I'll fix everything, I swear."

I raised my eyebrows at him, but never wiped the smile off my my face. "I trust you," I moved closer to him, "Is there something you want to ask me?"

His grinned and nodded his head, "Yeah." His grasp on my hands grew tighter and warmer, and his chocolate brown eyes stared deeper into mine. "Jenna Hamilton, would you be my girlfriend?"

I took my hands away from his and wrapped them around his neck. I gave him a kiss, purely just are lips passionately locked together. I pulled away, "Yes." I rested my forehead against his and whispered, "I hate to kill the mood, but you have to tell Jake this time."

He pulled away and started to get up, "You're right, you're right. I will. I will right now!"

I laughed and shook my head as I grabbed his hands and pulled him back to me, "Not now. Stay here with me." We began kissing again, wrapped in each others soothing embrace.

We pulled away from each other only when the screams and yells symbolizing New Years diffused through the room. I laughed, "Happy New Year!"

He laughed back and twirled a lock of my red hair around his pointer finger, "Happy New Year!" He looked at the hair he just curled around his finger, paused, and fixed her glare back on me. "Jenna, I love you."

I smiled, "I love you, too." We started to kiss again, but I couldn't stop smiling. I pulled away and laughed, "Look what you've done! Now I'm not going to be able to stop smiling the entire night."

He laughed along, "No, no. It's cute." He smiled at me for a moment, then took my hand and helped me up, "Come on." He led me out of the garage, and up the stairs.

The room he led me into was pitch black; I could barely see his figure walk through the room and turn on a lamp. We were in Matty's bedroom. I was standing on a caramel-colored rug and in between four green walls. His room was plain, excluding a few picture frames scattered around. The covers on his bed were green, a few shades lighter than his walls.

Matty slowly made his way over to me and took my hands, "Look, I'm not expecting you to do anything you don't want to do tonight. We can take this slow, however slow you'd like."

I nodded and smirked as I took a step closer to him."When did you become such a gentleman", I joked playfully.

He gave me a half smile and stare gazed onto the floor. His grip around my hands loosened, but it was still there. I could barely see his face, but what I could see had been painted with regret. His upset mood was contagious, but I swiftly shook it off. I placed my thumb on his chin and gently pushed his face up to look at me, "Hey, it's okay."

I pressed my lips on his and it only took a moment for his hot breath to enter my mouth. Our tongues tangoed as we slowly made our way onto Matty's bed. I rolled on top of him as his hands wandered to my waist.

"So I'm guessing taking it slow isn't exactly your forte?"

I laughed at his comment, only momentarily though, and then continued kissing him. Matty's hands strayed farther up my shirt, and paused around my ribcage. He flipped me over so I was on my back and helped me take off my shirt. His lips trailed down my body and planted soft kisses along the way. One on my neck, my collar bone, my stomach, and the last on right above my pants. I watched him longingly unbutton and unzipper my jeans. He began to pull my pants off my legs and toss them to the foot of the bed.

As what he was doing and planning to do became more clear, the more self-conscious I grew. I was embarrassed for him to see how turned on I actually was right now. Matty wasn't usually focused on me and my pleasure whenever we had sex before, but this time he might as well shout his intentions to the world.

Matty's two fingers rubbed me through my panties as his lips kissed my inner thighs, getting closer and closer to my wet pussy. Once he finished smooching both of my legs, he look up at me and smiled. He kissed my panties before pulling them off and adding them to the pile on the floor.

I could feel his tongue tracing images into me between kisses and smiles. As he got more passionate and less nervous about eating me out, the closer I became to cumming. My hand darted for his head, and started pulling at his lush brown hair. My back arched as I came and Matty slowly stopped kissing me between the legs and resumed kissing my lips.

Matty's hands, which were wrapped around me, reached for the clasp of my bra. I had to think twice about grabbing his wrists away from my back, but I decided against it. I just had to breathe. It was time to stop worrying and start enjoying life to it's fullest.

My bra accompanied all my other items of clothing on the ground and Matty's lips can tongue accompanied my chest. The noises that were passing my lips were noises that I never made before. I slowly sat up as Matty was sucking and kissing away at my breasts and started to take off his jeans. I made as much progress as I could taking them off, and Matty finished the rest. I began to rub his erect cock from the outside of his boxers as we started making out again.

It wasn't long until Matty couldn't take much more of my rubbing and tossed his boxers to the side. He began to slowly make love to me, slowly picking up the pace of his thrusting. Our breathing soon turned to moaning. I switched to being on the top moving my body vigorously. We came almost in unison and I collapsed on Matty, my head in the crook of his neck. We listening to each others breath for a moment or two before one of us finally broke the silence.

"Jenna," Matty breathed, "W-Wow."

I rolled off of him and kissed him, "Mhm."

I didn't bother covering myself up as I collected my clothes and proceeded to put them on, "Maybe we should join the party again. Someone has to be wondering where we are."

"Yeah," he nodded but didn't move a muscle. I took this as a challenge and tossed his clothes on the bed and told him to change. "You have to earn it," he mimicked me in a sleezy voice.

I laughed as I remembered the night where I threw my first party, "You're hilarious."

We rejoined the part, publicly presenting ourselves as a couple for the first time.


	2. I Just Wish We Could Go Back in Time

When Jake's eyes caught Matty and I hand and hand, walking down the stairs, he looked like a deer in head lights. His blue eyes were so wide and broken it made my stomach jump. He just stood there as still as a statue; even when a girl accidentally bumped into him he didn't move a millimeter. I glanced at Matty, who didn't seem to notice Jake. He looked back at me not needing to smile at me because he already was.

I maneuvered Matty's arm around my neck so I wouldn't have to hold his hand any longer; I knew my palms were about to get really sweaty in response to the drama that was destined to occur. I could tell that Matty had finally spotted Jake because he began to walk faster through the room.

We were nearly 5 feet away from him and I put my hand on Matty's chest to stop him, "Maybe tonight's not the night to tell Jake, Matty. I mean in a room full of people, isn't that kind of harsh?"

Matty playfully scoffed and kissed my forehead causing me to grin like an idiot, "It'll be fine, J-Town. Chill."

So I did. My heart beat slowly became a normal pace and my shoulders relaxed. My breathing wasn't hearable any longer and my thoughts stopped reeling in. I trusted Matty, it would be fine. For a moment, we were the only two in the room. Walking, nuzzled close together. It seemed as though I finally had a perfect relationship. That is, until Jake butted in on my daydream.

"Hey!" Matty called nervously.

Jake shot him a disapproving look, "What the hell is going on here?" He glanced at me, but not for too long. He wasn't stupid, and I could tell he was hurt. I did come here with him, and I left him with no explanation.

I looked around and saw how much attention we attracted within 10 seconds. I whispered, "Can we please do this outside?"

Without any further conversation, we did. We walked out the back door and stood in Matty's freezing backyard. Matty held me closer to him, trying to keep me as warm as possible without gloating.

We all stood there silent for 30 seconds or so until Jake repeated, "You never answered my question. What. The hell. Is going on?"

Matty cleared his throat and stumbled on, "You know that girl I was telling you about? The girl who I hooked up with during summer camp. The girl from the winter formal. The girl I've been pretty much obsessing over for the whole year?"

Jake's jaw slightly dropped and his blue eyes froze, as well as his body. The only thing that moved was his neck and head that kept rotating to look at his feet and Matty. Jake didn't even glance at me once, I didn't blame him though.

"That girl was Jenna. I didn't tell you about her at first, when we weren't exactly together, because," he hesitated and looked at me, "Because I was being an asshole. But when we were exclusive, I didn't tell you because I knew you liked her. And then all that shit with the formal happened... and now... now we're here."

Jake didn't say anything for a while as he soaked it all in. He didn't look up from his shoes when he finally talked, "So when I kissed Jenna you weren't exclusive, were you?"

Matty pressed his lips together, "We were when I found out."

There was a long awkward moment lacking dialog and eye contact. I was the only one not staring at shoes, I was alternating between looking at Matty and Jake. I felt useless, like I was only here to be shunned by Jake and reminded of one of Matty's biggest mistakes during our relationship. It was a shitty feeling.

Jake didn't look up, "Matty, could I talk to Jenna alone?"

Because Jake wasn't looking up Matty took it upon himself to kiss my cheek, "Sure." Matty walked back inside his house and I could see him through the kitchen window, trying hard not to look at us.

Finally Jake spoke, "You came here with me."

"I did," my voice cracked like I was about to cry. My biggest fear was hurting someone in this outrages love triangle, so it was safe to say I was terrified right now.

"How could you just change your mind within an hour and say, 'Oh, well never mind I want him now!'" Jake looked up at me with his watery eyes and slightly red face.

I shook my head feeling the tears build up in the corners of my eyes, "It's not like that, Jake."

"I broke up with my girlfriend of nearly 4 months for you, Jenna! And you spend a few weeks of your life with me and decide you're not into it anymore! And you don't even let me know in advance, you just went ahead and fucked another guy without any closure."

My eyes widened, "H-How do you..."

"Please Jenna, Matty might was well have an afro right now. And the two of you together smell like you both just went skinny dipping in a pool of sperm," Jake explained almost emotionless.

The visual was gruesome so I steered the conversation away from ever returning to the station we just stopped at, "Jake, Matty was and is my first love. Did you expect me to fall out of love within a few weeks?"

"If you were so in love, then how come you moved on so quickly to me?"

I could tell Matty sensed how upset I was because he was literally staring out the window with no shame. His eyes looked angry like the brown in them was at it's boiling point. He was biting his lip so hard I wouldn't be surprised if he broke skin.

"I honestly thought you were cool, Jenna, that you had a heart! But obviously, you only care about yourself," he didn't look sad anymore. It wasn't an improvement though, because now he was angry.

I could feel a tear travel down my cheek, "Jake, please!" I didn't finish though, at this point I was sobbing. "Ugly crying" as Tamara would call it. But Jake wasn't phased by it.

"Please, what?" he shouted.

I could hear the backdoor slam behind me and footsteps quickly making their way to Jake and I. "Jake, don't do this! I'm so sor-" before I could finish Matty's strong arms wrapped around me and I buried my face into his chest. I didn't bother trying to quiet my crying because it was muffled by Matty's chest.

"It's either h-" Jake began to shout.

"It's her!" Matty yelled the answer to Jake's question before he even finished. Matty had to take a few breaths before he continued yelling, "You have a lot of balls, Rosati, making a girl cry like this. Get the fuck out!"

Jake didn't argue or even try to defend himself. I could hear the jingling of his cars keys as he took them out of his pocket and slowly face away as he walked closer the street.

Matty's now light calm voice told me that Jake was gone, "It's okay, babe, it's okay." He kissed my head several times and rubbed my back, "Don't cry, it's okay."

Between my uncontrollable sobbing and my head being buried in Matty's chest my lungs craved oxygen. I pulled my head away from Matty far enough so I could breathe correctly and close enough so his embrace would loosen, "I'm so sorry this happened. I should have never made you do that."

He smiled at me; I assumed it was only to make me feel better because there was nothing to smile about right now. "Shh," he said softly, "You have nothing to be sorry for."

We entered Matty's house once it wasn't too obvious I had just been crying, although only a few people were still lingering around. Most of them, though, were occupied with someone at their lips. Matty took me up to his room again, although this time we didn't have sex. We laid there and cuddled as Matty complimented me in between kisses. I knew the excessive complements were only because I was feeling like shit, but I finally felt like I was in a real solid relationship.

"You're so beautiful," Matty mumbled as his lips parted from mine momentarily.

"And I love you so much," I replied.

"I know it sounds corny, but I honestly wish I could just pause this moment right now and live in it forever," he resumed kissing me.

I never heard something so poetic pass his lips, but I was so happy it did because I couldn't agree more.


	3. I Want You So Much That It Hurts My Head

It was 5 AM now, and both Matty and I finally realized it was time for me to go home if we ever wanted to see each other again. The two of us quietly walked down the stairs and on to Matty's driveway to hop in his car. Matty's left hand laid gripped on the top of his steering wheel while his right was holding my hand. The only sounds that filled the car were the cold January winds, that air conditioning blowing hot air, and corny songs hushed to volume 5.

The car stopped at the beginning of my street and I looked at him confused. He slightly smirked at me, "Just making sure we don't get caught."

I laughed, "Matty, my parents are probably way past wasted and passed out if they're home at all." He still wasn't convinced though as he took the keys out of the car, "It's freezing outside."

He sighed, "Okay. You're right." He twisted the keys back in his car and pulled up in front of my house. We both got out of the car, but both started walking in completely different directions. "Jenna!"

"Well, shit, I know what career you're headed for," I giggled and chased after him. He led me to my balcony where he'd meet me every now and then to tell me something that couldn't be taken seriously over the phone.

The two of us helped each other climb up the tree closest to my bedroom and leap over to my balcony. I opened the door to my bedroom and Matty followed me inside. I closed the door by leaning on it as I stared at Matty. He looked nervous and anxious so I pecked him on the lips.

"I'm so sorry this happened," Matty explained softly. Surprisingly, Matty's guilty voice was attractive enough to send chills up my spine.

"Sorry what happened? That I'm with who I'm supposed to be with? That I saw the true colors of someone who I considered to be my friend?" I tried to sound sweet, but it only seemed to whip Matty's from away for a second.

"I should have listened to you," he went on.

"You did."

"No, when you told me that it wasn't the right time. You were right. Maybe if we just waited a day or two..." his voice faded out. He and I both knew whatever time we told him the truth, he wouldn't take it easily.

I took his hand and led him to my bed; we both took a seat at the very edge of it making small talk.

"So you would actually pick some girl you've known for a couple months over your best friend for years?" I joked, even though we both knew part of me was serious.

He didn't reply with words; he just nodded and smiled. He leaned over and kissed my lips.

I was still interested though and Matty's cuteness couldn't change that, "Isn't there some kind of bros before hos code?"

"Yeah. But you're not a ho," he started to kiss me again but pulled away, "And bros don't make your hos cry."

I made a face at him but still couldn't help laughing back, "If anyone asks, I wasn't crying. My allergies were just acting up and Jake just twisted the story around to make me look weak."

"Can you even get allergies in the winter?" he joked and threw an arm around me.

"So yeah, just mention the second part."

"I doubt Jake's going to tell anybody that he made a girl cry," he raised his eyebrows and kissed my head. He held me in his arms tight, not moving his lips from my head even when he stopped kissing me. "And is it too late to ask why?"

"It was overwhelming I guess," I said emotionless.

"The truth," he replied.

"He was so hurt," I said softly as if I was in a trance, "The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him." I paused and then went on trying not to make Jake seem like a bad guy, "He told me he broke up with Lissa for me. Just to spend a few weeks with me and then be dumped in public."

"Jake said it wasn't serious, though," Matty sounded concerned.

"I mean it wasn't," I tried to explain, "He wanted it to be serious, but I didn't. I was still... I was still in love with you," I admitted. I was dreading the moment when I would have to tell Matty how long I had actually been in love with him. I was so happy Matty was holding me in a position where I couldn't see his face.

"Jenna, I've loved you since the janitor's closet. I was just scared to deal with it because I never felt like that before. I thought maybe if I ignored it, it would all go away," he sighed, "And then I realized I didn't want to ignore it."

I looked up at him and smiled, "Everything you're saying tonight is so perfect." I hesitated, "Are you like holding cue cards behind your back or something?"

"Nah, I've just been reading a lot of Nicholas Sparks books," he said sarcastically.

I grinned and wrapped my arms around Matty's neck and started kissing him. It wasn't long into our makeout before Matty spoke up, "I should really go, Jenna."

I bit my lip and nodded slowly; I didn't want him to leave. I wanted him to lay down with my underneath the covers with his muscular arms around me. I want his chest to act as my pillow throughout the night and to wake up to a good morning kiss. He was right, though, there was no way my parents would be okay with a boy sleeping in my bedroom.

"I love you," he kissed me, "I'll talk to you in the morning."

Just like that he was out the door. The night was absolutely eventful and dramatic, but having Matty in my life as my boyfriend made it all okay. I got up and watched him leave for the window. When Matty was finally out of sight, I dove for my computer and typed in the URL to my blog. I might as well have wrote a novel about my night because it was surely detailed enough to get published.

I finished my entry with a simple, "The ride was worth it, because I had finally reached my destination and it was perfect."


	4. I Guess That's All I Wanted

It was the one day I didn't need my alarm to wake me up in the morning. I literally got up almost on command, 10 minutes before my alarm was supposed to ring, stretching like I was on a commercial advertising a sleeping pill. I walked to the back door in my room and whether it was a short-sleeves day or a long-sleeves day. With the sun beating down on my body almost instantly, I quickly decided it was a short-sleeve day and shut the door.

I took my time and laid out clothes on my un-made bed: a light yellow v-neck with thin horizontal stripes, a light blue denim skirt that flowed down to my knees, and a random pair of socks and underwear. After I was done changing, I made my way into my bathroom to wash up. I put my brunette hair into a ponytail at the top of my head and clipped my bangs back so I could wash my face, brush my teeth, and applying a small amount of makeup to my face. I let my hair down, combed it out, and left it there. I was excited for today and definitely wanted to look the part.

I heard my phone buzz in my bedroom, so I finished up in the bathroom and went to check the message. It was from Jake. I didn't want to read it, but I gave into the temptation and unlocked my phone. "I'm sorry about the other night. I was really upset and didn't know I was saying. Can we just forget it?" I grunted as I replied, "No." It was simple as that. It was so much easier to stand up for myself around him now that I saw his true colors. "Matty did, why can't you? I don't know what else to do." Matty forgive him? What happened to his rant about friends not making their friends' girlfriends cry? I took my book-bag off my desk chair and dropped my phone into it.

I sat down in my desk chair and opened my laptop cover. When I logged onto my profile page I was welcomed with a notification that read, "Matty McKibben listed you as his girlfriend". I smiled at the screen and hit "accept". The corner in my laptop screen that read the time reminded me to start getting ready to leave.

I swung my bag over my shoulder and took a glimpse in the mirror before I walked to down to the kitchen. I saw my mother frantically rummaging through a drawer and mumbling to herself. I tried to peek over he shoulder as I slowly got closer to her. Once she sensed my presence she slammer the drawer shut and turned around to me. She leaned up against the drawer and tried to act calm, "Oh, good morning. Ready to go?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah." She was acting weird, but she always acted a little strange. I shrugged it off, but still in the back of my mind I wondered what she was looking for and why she didn't want me to know what it was.

She waited for me to start making my way to the garage first, and then closely followed behind me. I climbed into the passenger seat and waited for my mother to start the car. Before she did, she turned on the radio loud. The volume was high enough to block out any conversation, but low enough to the point where we didn't leave the car deaf. It was a long, silent drive to school. But I had reached my destination alive, and that's all I cared about.

"Bye, mom," I waited for a response that I never got, and jumped out of the car.

I briefing scanned the crowd of people around the school building looking for a familiar face until Tamara took hold of my shoulder and spun my around. It didn't take her a second to start babbling, but it took me one to pay attention to it. She looked completely pissed with just a hint of confused.

"Jenna! Where the hell did you run off to last night? Jake was looking for you for at least an hour. He said you were action all strange. Finally, I guess, he just stormed off because I didn't see him the rest of the night," it was a wonder how she still had air left in her lungs after getting that out of her system without a breath in between.

"I actually wanted to tell you and Ming together," I replied gently, "You know, just to avoid a repeat of last year." It was partially true, Ming would be pissed if I let her fall out of the loop again. Most of the reason why I hadn't told her yet was because I was scared. I knew how judgmental Tamara could be from time to time, and I knew she wouldn't appreciate me using Jake to get over a 15 minute Matty heartbreak.

"Jenna, you're scaring me. What the fuck happened?" she said slowly, trying to persuade me to tell her with her calmness.

I opened my mouth to speak, but ended up having Matty press his against mine after a quick "Hey!". After he released me I stood there partially frozen and turned to Tamara who was completely ice. Her mouth hung open as well as her brown eyes.

"Oh, I see how it is. I have to tell Jake about us, almost loose him as my best friend, and you don't have to lift a finger?" he joked and threw an arm around me. I smirked and waited for the bomb to explode inside Tamara.

"Jenna. What the fuck," it wasn't a question. It was more of a command.

Matty seemed to be enjoying this much more than I was, although he was still attempting to cover up his smirk by pressing his lips together in a line.

"Okay, okay. The reason I was M.I.A. was because I was... making up with Matty. And the reason Jake finally 'quit' was because we told him," I planned to tell her the long version with Ming and preferably not in front of Matty. Or anyone else.

Tamara squinted her eyes for a second, shook her head, and turned to Matty, "Excuse us for a second." Tamara grabbed my arm and stole me away from Matty.

I awkwardly waved to Matty and he returned it and went to class. I shot Tamara a disgusted look, "T, what the hell?"

"Don't 'what the hell?' me! I should be the one 'what the hell'-ing you! How could you not tell me you and Matty are dating now! Details, now!" she tried to talk quietly, even though her whispers were sharp.

"I want to tell you and Ming together!"I protested, which roughly translated to "I still need time to think about how to tell."

She shook her head, "Fine, but if you procrastinate any longer than that I swear to God I'm disowning you."

I nodded, "I won't," even though I knew I probably would.


	5. Ready

"-And this is what he sent me this morning. I swear to God, everything about him is bipolar. 'Fuck you, I hate you' to 'I'm so sorry, please forgive me!'?" I groaned as I passed Tamara and Ming my cellphone, showing them the text messages Jake had sent me that morning. I just got done telling them the detailed version of what happened the other night. Minus the sex. Even at the age 16, sex was still uncomfortable for me to talk about. At least when it came to the colorful vocabulary involving sex.

"So wait, Matty forgave him?" Ming asked raising her thick eyebrows, "And you're sure of that?"

I shrugged, "I haven't brought it up yet. But why would Jake lie about that?"

Tamara cut in with her squeaky voice, "To fuck with your head. Make you feel bad for being mad at him. To make you pissed at Matty."

I rolled my eyes, but Tamara was right. The possibilities were endless to why he would lie about that. But if it was true, he had a serious advantage. I was fully aware of where I stood in Matty's head. I was the girl who had broken up with him for his best friend, and Jake was the guy who had had his back since day one.

"Jenna, you have to talk to Matty about it ASAP. Miscommunication is going to eat your relationship alive," Ming protested and took a bite out of her chicken sandwich.

I was taking advice from a girl who had never been in a relationship, and it was damn good advice. If I didn't talk to Matty, I could end up third-wheeling their fucked up bromance. I looked over at Tamara who had been questionably quiet throughout the conversation.

"Don't look at me! If you wanna bounce from guy to guy, that's fine, but when they're best friends don't come to me for advice," Tamara was pissing me off completely.

"This is the exact reason why I didn't want to tell you, T. I knew you'd say something like that," I mumbled and buried my head in my hands. Some things were better left unsaid, like Tamara's opinions of my once love triangle, "And I'm not bouncing back and forth. Jake is an ass."

Tamara shook her head and stabbed her salad with a fork, "Whatever."

The three of us ate silently together for a short amount of time until I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, "J-town! Hey!"

I turned around and forced a smile, "Hey, pull up a chair."

He nodded and pulled a chair from the table in back of us to ours', "What's going on?" I had a feeling he sensed the insane amount of tension among the three of us. Or two of us.

Ming gave me the evil eye and gave my phone back to me, the text message still opened up. I could tell Matty caught a glance of it because he shrunk down in his chair. "Um, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

He nodded slowly, "Yeah?" He eyed Tamara and Ming uneasily, but quickly fixed his stare on me.

"I don't want to sound like a naggy girlfriend, but," I hesitated and looked down at my phone in my hands. I read the message over again, "But Jake texted me this morning asking me to forgive him. He mentioned something about you forgiving him?" I phrased it like a question, even though it clearly wasn't.

"I was actually going to talk to you about that," he cleared his throat, "I just think maybe it isn't the best way to start off a relationship. You know, with drama and shit."

I bit my tongue. He made a point, whether it was a good point or not it was still a point. I nodded, "So are you suggesting I should get over it, too?"

"Only if you feel comfortable," the words came out of his so cautiously and slowly. "If you don't, I understand. What he did was extremely bad and I'm still peeved at him for it."

I bit my lip and nodded. It was weird how Ming seemed so interested my life, yet Tamara didn't seem to care at all. Maybe she had an overdose of my constant drama? I had no idea, but I did have the idea that if I didn't give Matty an answer he'd have no problem assuming one. "No, it's fine. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't lying to me or something."

"So, is your question answered?" he joked. I couldn't help but laugh, "So I'll take that as a yes?"

I nodded, "Yes, you answered my question." I gave him a small peck on his lips and pulled away from him with a smile.

"Good," he still sounded unsure of the situation but he didn't continue the conversation, "Also, Jake may or may not be having a party because his parents are going to be out of town."

I bit my lip while still smiling, "Really? Maybe if he grows a pair and apologizes to me in person, you'll see me there."

Tamara cleared her throat obnoxiously and Matty shook his head and laughed, "And when he does, which he will, feel free to bring along Tamara and Ming," he leaned over and whispered, "They'll just need to find their own ride." He kissed my cheek and made his way back to his lunch table with Jake.

Tamara shot me a look and went back to devouring her lunch. I didn't understand her issue Matty and I dating again, but I kept the question locked in the back of my brain. The last thing I wanted was more drama than what was in store for me at Jake's party. Especially if there would be alcohol involved. It was a given there would be, though.


	6. Dropped and Shocked

Matty and I drove to Jake's party in complete, utter silence. The silence was so heavy you could hear the wind blowing against the car. You could hear the wheels race down the road several speeds fasted then the speed limit. My hand rested on his thigh, the only sign of affection we had shown within the past 15 minutes besides the kiss I gave him when he came to pick me up. The kiss was a mixture of "Hello, love! I'm so happy you came to pick me up!" and "Thank God you're here to save me from this hell-hole!"

Okay, maybe my house wasn't exactly a hell-hole. Just an incredibly weird and uncomfortable hole. My parents barely could speak to each other without literally hissing and my mother couldn't even look me in the eyes. My father, though, was the complete opposite. He would hug me and kiss the top of my head like someone had died and give me advice like I was coming home from school everyday crying. Whatever was going on, I didn't want to know about it. Life was supposed to be good now that my love triangle had been dismissed.

The car rolled into Jake's driveway and haulted suddenly. Matty's specialty was speeding down highways unnecessarily fast and making shrieking noises with his tires on sharp turns, not making his passengers feel safe. I took my hand off Matty's leg and reached for the door handle, but Matty's voice stopped me from going anywhere.

"Look, if hanging out at Jake's is weird to you I totally understand," Matty rambled, "If you want to go back to my place and... _hang out _that's fine with me."

I smiled and shook my head, "I already told Ming and Tamara to meet me here. I'm not turning down your offer, just postponing it."

He nodded and leaned over to kiss my lips. We both hopped out of the car and walked to Jake's front door with our hands shoved in our coat pockets. "You're positive?" Matty asked with his fist hovering over the door.

"We could always leave early," I replied calmly.

Matty's fist knocked slowly on the door and was quickly answered with Jake's smiling face. He smoothed his blonde hair with his right hand and clapped Matty's shoulder with his left. "Hey, man!" he called. He turned to me, "Ming and Tamara are in the back." It was nice to know where I stood, or where Jake wanted me to stand which was as far away from him as possible.

I nodded and stood silently next to Matty while he talked to Jake before I tapped his shoulder, "I'm going to go find Tamara and Ming."

He nodded, "Okay, I'll catch up with you later."

I nodded back and made my way into Jake's backyard. Ming and Tamara sat around a stone wall that guarded Jake's patio. A few other people stood around talking in quiet voices and taking huge gulps of cheap beer. All of them seemed to be on the same level as my friends and I before all the Matty drama. Completely under the radar and glad to be that way.

It hit me, though. Out of all the parties and kick-backs I participated in this was the only one with scattered outcasts. Jake wasn't a bad person, his wide range of friends said so, my confession was just at bad timing. I groaned and sat next to Tamara, "Hey."

"We've been waiting for like 30 minutes, what the hell happened?" Tamara didn't seem happy to see me, but she didn't seem unhappy to see me.

"She means hi," Ming corrected, she stood up, "You guys want to get a drink?"

We both nodded and got up, "Matty kept stalling. I guess he's worried about Jake blowing up in my face again." I shrugged and followed Ming inside.

"Why would he care?" Tamara scoffed as she cracked open a can of beer and poured it into a plastic red cup.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because we're dating," Tamara passed me the half-empty can of beer and I poured it into my own cup. As tempted as I was to make a snarky comment about Ricky Schwartz, I decided against it. I was already was in the dog house with Tamara, for whatever reason.

She took a large gulp of her cup and raised her eyebrows, "Whatever, Jenna." She turned away from Ming and I and joined some other group. I didn't understand what her deal was, but if she didn't seal it soon she'd end up friendless.

"What's up with her?" I muttered to Ming. She tired to fake a "What are you talking about?" look, but quickly wiped it off and sighed. "Seriously, Ming."

She chewed on her lip and tugged me out the door, "Look, you can't tell her I told you, but she has this idea that you're going get Matty-fever and leave us in the dust."

"Why would she think that," I narrowed my eyebrows and shook my head, "Why was she so okay with it before, and now she's completely anti-Matty?"

"I guess she didn't think it was that serious before," Ming shrugged and took a gulp of her cup. "I mean, before it was just sex and flirting, now you guys are in a relationship."

I sighed, "So what? Are you saying you agree with her?"

Ming pressed her lips together and thought her response over, "I think Tamara is being dramatic. I'm happy that you're with him now."

"Why?" I mumbled, "Because you think we're good together, or because I've been on his case all year?"

Ming rolled her eyes, "Calm down, Jenna. I think you guys are perfect together and you'll last forever, okay? Now relax, we're at a party remember."

"I'm calm," I corrected her in a defensive tone, "Two parties in a matter of a week, huh? Your parents must be in a really good mood."

"Ha! I'm being picked up in like 2 hours, which is why we should enjoy ourselves before you're stuck third wheeling with Jake and Matty," we both glanced over at Matty and Jake, who were laughing and play fighting.

"Saddie isn't here?"

Ming scoffed, "No. She's probably at home eating her feelings now that Matty is taken." Ming flicked the hair sticking out of her hat to the side, "Why?"

I shrugged. I had to admit, the lack of harassment in my life had me worried. Was it Lissa's rejection that had her bummed? It couldn't have been Matty, because if it was I probably would have been getting twice the amount of hate from her as I usually did.

To avoid anymore of Ming's cruel jokes about Saddie's weight, I changed to subject. I told her about how weird my at-home-life was currently, but she quickly reassured me with stories about her tight schedules and strict curfews. We laughed and joked for about a half a hour until Matty joined our conversation. I quietly reminisced to myself about Matty and I's first date and how well we all got along. I didn't understand why Tamara was so turned off now by my relationship, and it honestly bothered me more than it should have.

Ming looked through the crowd, "Maybe I should find Tamara and ask her if she wants to leave with me in an hour."

Matty and I both nodded and watched her leave. Once she was out of sight, Matty wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him. "Thank God, I thought she'd never leave."

I let him kiss me, "Hey, Ming isn't that bad." I smiled at him and let my hands rest around his neck. I bit my lip and waited for him to resume kissing me.

"PDA isn't exactly my thing," he laughed. He dropped his hands from my waist to my hands and held them. "But I know a place where we can change public to private."

Suddenly I realized that we were standing in a room full of people, I nodded. Matty let go of one of my hands and took me upstairs. In front of the door, Matty started kissing me again and pushed me up against a door. He held my hands up above my head as he maneuvered his tongue into my mouth. One of his hands held my hands secured above my head and the other turned the door knob and swung the door open. He pulled his lips away from me and started passed me with wide eyes.

"What?" I said as I turned around and almost passed out right then and there.

The bed was definitely occupied. A familiar blonde and redhead stared back at us looking like deers in head lights. . Matty and I backed out of the room and slammed the door shut. We stared at each other for a few seconds and tried to sort out our thoughts.

"What the _fuck_ was Tamara doing with Jake?"


End file.
